I got interrupted before I could call Mike on his birthday. After several weeks (like 10) of interruptions and a little forgetfullness I decided I had better come up with something good for him: I have a cool present, but he can't have it until he solves my riddle.
This harks back to what are, for me at least, the old college days. Mike is still there (in school that is) doing what sometimes I wish I were still doing. I'm not quite the wordsmith he is, but I hope it at least makes up for missing his birthday.If nothing else it was fun to write again. I ran into Mark & Jan, who suggested I post if for all to read and take a crack at. I'll only give two hints: there are two answers, and the formatting is a little off because of the publishing medium (but if you are clever you can fix it).
A Riddle for Mike from Pete
I've a fast tongue;
I've a paralyzing wit.
I have often come out of my shell;
I have much hidden behind hard lines.
I'm a classic example of the divine proportion;
I'm a wonderful creation suited to my environment.
Among the many fish in the sea, I am a lone roman scholar;
Among the few with scholarly titles, I am not too difficult to find.
I live life with one foot in a hard-cover, wrapped in scrolling script;
I live life with one foot in nature, adventuring at depths most cannot reach.
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16 comments:
ok give me a minute. I am working on it
I am going to need some time. I caught some sort of killer cold/flu on Wednesday and have not had full mental capacity since. Thanks for remembering my birthday, Peter. I will work on this riddle.
First guess...Nostradamas...?
A turtle on speed? How nice.
remote control sub used for exploration, like on nature shows...
Mike.
My first guess was "turtle" too. I didn't even think of a turtle on speed. I am going to modify this answer to "a smart turtle."
an amphibious version of Mike?? Do we get the answer now?
Yea, I agree with Abby, I want the answer!
It's a conche shell with one foot inside, that is a big slug type snail. The conche shell spirals in divine proportion, each section being bigger by a consistent formula. But we need the latin name of such a shell.
I knew that and was going to say so before Dad told everyone.....(okay, so you don't have to believe me)
Score one for Julie. Here is the first answer in painful detail, by line:
Mike thinks, and can talk, fast.
His wit can paralyze with laughter--and in other ways too I suppose.
His writing can be very revealing and he's certainly not afraid of who he is.
Sometimes there are messages in his writing that are hidden (you have to think about it or know something about the topic).
Any humans that aren't deformed are "classic examples of divine proportion." This was more a clue for the other answer, but works for Mike.
I needed a parallel line. This pretty much could be applied to any of god's creations so it fit both meanings. Mike performs unusually well in his environment--in more wasy than one.
"Fish in the sea" here means "people in the world." The word I don't like (and may change if I rewrite this again) is "lone." It works for the other answer (which does describe Mike), but could be misleading as a direct description of Mike. Scholarship (and literature in particular) has all kinds of latin associations and the word I am trying to conjure up here is a singular (lone), nominative, latin noun. More on that at the end.
Mike has several scholarly titles, like "Master." He chooses to publish online, which is very accessable (if you have a internet access).
Hard-cover here was meant to conjure the image of a book, and scrolling script is how I imagine Mike's mind to look. Mike's life is wrapped up in books and literature. Also, things published online can scroll.
This was my favorite line because it is parrallel and opposite the preceeding line (but better than the third and fourth lines which are also parallel and opposite) and they make a sort of paradox. It was the second line I wrote and is what convinced me to finish writing the poem.As to what it means: Books are very artificial (a bunch of visual symbols based on audible symbols of real or imagined things that are being interpreted or made up by someone else), and living through books is very indirect. This shows up in some scholars, but despite being very literary Mike is very in-touch with reality (which I tried to imply) and with nature (which I stated in the line). Both his writing and his living are adventursome and attain a "depth" many don't ever reach.
Uncle Mark is on the right track for the other answer. Since my biology and history got fudged together a little to make line 7 (which is the key) work I'll clarify that this fellow isn't a Conche. He is from the Conus family (or was that Philum?)however and he does spiral in the same way.
To clarify what Mark already said: What is a Latin word that describes Mike, names this cone-fellow (Species name), and could be translated as "scholar"?
scholar in latin: auditor (hearer), littera, philologum, or teacher in Latin is : Doctor or Doctoris
Ok, so I have learned that these cone snails are venomous. This riddle is making more sense, but I am still not sure which species is the answer. I am sure that the answer begins like this: "Mike-conus..." or perhaps "Miconus..."
I think there is another entity Pete is also describing. I am cheating because Uncle Randy showed such to us at dinner the other day....
My final guess is:
Conus Magus
Mike
Mike-onus Magus
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